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Friday, June 29, 2012

Experience the passion
that ignites when handsome older men connect with young beautiful women. This
steamy collection of four erotic short stories includes the kind of sexy
encounters that only a blending of experience and youth can bring. Read how a
composed college professor gives over to his lust for one of his faithful
students, witness a seasoned theatre director succumbing to the stubborn wiles
of a hot young actress in his play, and more.

*****

Excerpt:

The Emerald Room bar was
one of the classier joints where Nate got paid to play these days. Every Friday
for the past two months, he put on a jacket and bowtie and sat at their shiny
baby grand, tickling the keys for his two-hour set. It was a hell of a lot
better than some of the trashy spots he was forced to waste his talent in,
places whose patrons were so noisy and crude, where his music drowned beneath
the sound of shrill laughter and glass breaking.

But not this place.

Aside from the nice
paycheck, and aside from the sleek marble-topped bar and tall cherry wood
seats, and aside from the polite, well-dressed folks who not only listened to
him but tipped as well, there was the goddess.

She always showed up
when he was about thirty minutes into his set, usually around the time he was
playing soundtrack tunes from movies like The Godfather. In she'd stride,
wearing one of her killer dresses. Sometimes it was the little black one, her
hair cascading like a golden wave down her bare back. Other times she wore the
sparkling red number. Tonight she donned a silver gown with a slit all the way
up to the top of her right leg, the lacy band of her stocking peeking out
whenever she moved just right on the barstool.

God, did Nate have a
thing for stockings.

Her black stilettos only
made her heavenly legs even more mouthwatering, the way they caused the calf
muscles to flex just right. In between songs he took a sip of his bourbon and
loosened his tie. To imagine those legs wrapped around him…it was the fuel for
many a fantasy after he went home, too chicken shit to talk to her.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

I'm guest blogging today over at Flirty Author Bitches, and talking about some of the inspiration behind my new release, The Vampire, The Witch & The Werewolf: A Threesome Wedding Adventure -- The Devil's Mansion in New Orleans -- or more what now stands on the infamous site.

Leave a comment there, with an email address, and I'll choose one winner for a .pdf copy of the erotic paranormal. And, if you haven't already ... don't forget to enter the release contest for a Pewter Rune Necklace.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

When an exchange of stolen goods in the Feriana marketplace turns sour,
Isabeau stumbles from the encounter bruised and laden with new orders to
complete an even larger heist. With her child’s life at stake, there’s no room
for error—or allies.

Armed with a lethal book of spells, she strikes a dangerous bargain
with Roland Bernhard. Steal a shipment of salt from the Feriana colony, and she’ll
have her freedom—and her daughter. It’s all she’s ever wanted. At least it was…until
she runs into Dillon Preston.

Dillon is out of commission after a mine explosion, and itching for a
distraction. He gets it when the female who saved his leg arrives at the colony
with nothing but flimsy excuses and even flimsier attire. She’s after
something, but is it him—or the salt?

Trapped in a desperate bid to gain true freedom, Isabeau is willing to
sacrifice her life for her daughter’s, but Dillon has other plans. He wants a
package deal, and he’s not willing to lose either female, even if it means the
future king of Sere’s head will roll.

Warning: This title contains a heroine desperate to save her daughter
and a hero determined to make them a family. It also includes wings, horns
and other assorted appendages.

Hailey is a wife turned mother turned writer, who loves her husband,
her daughter and alone time with her computer. Whenever southern living strikes
her as too ordinary, she can be found squinting at her monitor as she writes
her next happily-ever-after or with her nose glued to her Kindle’s screen.
Wings and/or cupcakes are usually involved…

She loves to hear from readers. Drop her a linehere.

You can also swing by her blogor subscribe to her newsletterfor all her latest
news.

Friday, June 22, 2012

If you're looking for the Hot Summer Nights Blog Hop, it's one post down, or click on that title. Plus, make sure to leave a comment on Kerry's blog because she has a giveaway, too!

I love
history, and I love writing about hot men in historical settings. There is
something about a primal man—one who hasn’t been “metro’ed.” Of course, I’d
still like my primal man to be cleaned and ‘scaped as much as possible, so I do
veer from history in that area. I think reading “Clan of the Cave Bear” when I
was a teen really impacted me.

When
researching Druids for this novella, I found out that we really don’t know a
whole lot about them. Not really. Sure, there are lots of people speculating—but
most of our Druid sensibilities come from Neo-Druids in the seventeenth and
beyond centuries. When you think of Druid, you likely think of these
Neo-Druids. The culture is quite romantic.

For Druid, Mine, I took the fun parts from
the Neo-Druid movement and ran with them. I love the idea of a central hearth
and firepit. I love the back-to-nature aspects and being in tune with the
astronomical events around us.

Druid, Mine takes place on Summer Solstice Eve—a
night of magic. Set in Ireland, I also took advantage of the ripe faery culture
there. All in all, I really enjoyed writing this novella and am proud that it
is in the 1Night Stand series at Decadent.

Druid, Mine is the second in a subseries (the
series being the 1Night Stand series), All
Mine. The first novella is Senator, Mine (April 2012) and the third is Pharaoh, Mine (fall 2012).

I’d like to
offer one commenter a free copy of Druid, Mine. I’ll select the winner on
Sunday, June 24 and post here (the winner can then contact me to get the book).

Thanks!

Kerry
Adrienne

Druid, Mine
blurb:

Anya’s wish for a normal date—away from the old man she is
caretaker for—comes true in unexpected ways when she finds herself whisked to
an ancient Irish stone circle on solstice eve.

Carrick’s decision to follow the path to become an Ovate
druid has not come lightly, and he plans to spend the solstice eve in
meditation unless fairies or evil spirits disrupt the circle. When a feisty
girl walks right up to the fire, more than sparks fly.

They each seek healing and a connection, but the darkness of
summer is short, and once the solstice sun breaks through the circle at dawn,
the magic of the night will be over. Even Madame Eve can’t stop the day from
rising.

Excerpt

Maybe I’m the first
person Madame Eve can’t find a match for.
And how was it any better than just picking someone up from one of the dozen
bars along the street?

Bile filled her throat. Being caretaker for the old man had
filled her days but left her empty inside. I’m
lonely. I need this 1Night Stand. She stifled a sob. Crying wouldn’t help
anything. She had chosen her path knowing full well what the consequences would
be. Maybe she hadn’t foreseen how deeply alone she’d feel, but she’d known what
she was getting into, work-wise. She used to be a risk taker, impulsive and
willing to try new things. Why was she so willing to settle for security now?

The town’s few buildings rose in shadowed relief in the dusky
twilight around the city center like tall stones. Guardians, perhaps. Behind
them lay the mountains, the wild unknown. She sat straight and leaned into the
faint spray from the fountain. The cool mist spread across the back of her
arms. Closing her eyes, she lifted her long hair so the moisture could reach
the back of her neck.

“Aine?”

Anya dropped her hair.

“Hello?” No one.

“Aine. Let’s go.” The voice floated on drops of water and
fell through the air.

“What?” No one was near.

“I’m here.” The voice settled softly like dew on her skin.
The air wavered over the fountain and the water slowed.

I only had one beer.

“Come. He awaits.”

For the briefest moment, a golden light eclipsed the edge of
Anya’s vision then darkness slid over her.

New writer Kerry Adrienne
tackles one of my favorite short reads with Senator,
Mine, a 1Night Stand release from Decadent Publishing. Adrienne draws
readers to New Pompeii, Italy, where Eleanor wants to get over her failed
relationship. Rather than getting engaged, she’s hooking up for a night of debauchery.

As a senator in ancient
Rome, Darius can have his choice of any servant girl in his bed. When Eleanor
purchases a ring with a special connection, she’s in for the night of a
lifetime.

Senator, Mine features some delicious time travel, and Adrienne’s
writing adds a richness to the intriguing tale: “The scent of age hung in the
shop. Dust and dirt—once a king’s ransom—and tithes to long-forgotten gods
circulated in the cool air.” I definitely look forward to more from this
author.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

A chill wind
blows, and the “June Gloom” kicks in full force. Living in Southern California
near the ocean in the summer doesn’t always mean hot weather.

Usually, by the
afternoon – around 3 p.m. – things start heating up. I’m a warm weather gal,
and love that feeling of sitting by the window, collecting the warmth, or
sliding into a closed car and getting all toasty (not the burning the buns on
the hot seats, though!)

Along with
summer time comes hot reads! And, you’re going to experience some sizzling one
on this Blog Hop! I’ll be giving away a $10 gift certificate to Ravenous
Romance to one commenter on my blog, plus, every
comment is entered the grand prizes, the “Digital Erotica Gift Basket with over
40 books” or the “$100 Gift Card to EdenFantasys, fun sex toy shop.”

“Digital Erotica Gift Basket with over 40 books”

“$100 Gift Card to EdenFantasys, fun sex toy shop”

Check out my latest erotic paranormal novel (came out on
Tuesday!), and tell me your favorite part of summer!

The Vampire, The Witch & The
Werewolf: A Threesome Wedding Adventure

Planning a wedding can be stressful and
crazy-making. Planning three weddings at the same
time? That’s insanity. While The Vampire,
The Witch & The Werewolf embark on a nuptial excursion, Silver & Nick
hold down the home fortress in New Orleans.

And as if everyone doesn’t have enough to deal
with, the Voodoo King comes calling with a magic elixir that diminishes sexual
inhibitions and an eerie quiet spreads across the French Quarter.Life as they know it
may never be the same.

The threesome is forced to put off honeymoon bliss in order to banish the demons of their past, and embrace the
uncertainty of the future.

Susannah Sandlin drops in for a lesson in genre blending and blurring. Anyone getting dizzy in here?

“Genre” is a
topic dear to agents and editors and publishers and booksellers. How should the
book be marketed? Where will it get shelved in a bookstore? Is it urban fantasy
or paranormal romance? Where does it get categorized on book websites? Which
book reviewers should it be sent to?

They need a
clear definition, an easy fit.

For authors, sometimes—maybe
a lot of the time—the stories we want to write aren’t an easy fit. Sometimes
they straddle two categories, or more.

When I first
wrote Redemption, my new release, it
sat firmly on the fence between paranormal romance and urban fantasy.

It is the first
in a series that had an ongoing situation that couldn’t be resolved within the
pages of a single book. A global pandemic has led to the development of a
vaccine that caused a slight change in human blood chemistry—which has made the
blood of a vaccinated human deadly to vampires. Suddenly, vampires are
starving, fighting over unvaccinated humans, fanning into rural areas in search
of feeders, threatening a civil war.

Sounds like
urban fantasy, right? Maybe with a science-fiction twist? Maybe a little
apocalyptic (at least for the vampires)?

Well, except
that each book is told from the viewpoint of a vampire who finds his or her
perfect mate in the midst of chaos and rebellion. In Redemption, Aidan Murphy has avoided relationships because of
something that happened to his human wife and child in Ireland back in 1601. He’s
deeply scarred by it, and isn’t expecting a human doctor—who he’s forced to
kidnap so his people will have medical treatment—to change his life.

Krys and Aidan’s
story is central to Redemption. Uh…sounds like paranormal romance, right?

You see the
issue. So…do your favorite books fit neatly into a category? If you’re writing,
how close to “genre” do you stick, or do you let the story go where it needs to
go?

Blurb:

Following a
worldwide pandemic whose vaccine left human blood deadly to vampires, the
vampire community is on the verge of starvation and panic. Some have fanned
into rural areas, where the vaccine was less prevalent, and are taking
unsuspecting humans as blood slaves. Others are simply starving, which for a
vampire is worse than death—a raging hunger in a creature too weak to feed.

Immune to these struggles—at first—is Penton, a
tiny community in rural Chambers County, Alabama, an abandoned cotton mill town
that has been repopulated by charismatic vampire Aidan Murphy, his scathe of 50
vampires, and their willingly bonded humans. Aidan has recruited his people
carefully, believing in a peaceful community where the humans are respected and
the vampires retain a bit of their humanity.

But an unresolved family feud and the
paranoia of the Vampire Tribunal descend on Penton in the form of Aidan’s
brother, Owen Murphy. Owen has been issued a death warrant that can only
be commuted if he destroys Penton—and Aidan, against whom he’s held a grudge
since both were turned vampire in 17th-century Ireland. Owen begins a
systematic attack on the town, first killing its doctor, then attacking one of
Aidan’s own human familiars.

To protect his people, Aidan is forced to
go against his principles and kidnap an unvaccinated human doctor—and finds
himself falling in love for the first time since the death of his wife in
Ireland centuries ago.

Dr. Krystal Harris, forced into a world she
never knew existed, must face up to her own abusive past to learn if the
feelings she’s developing for her kidnapper are real—or just a warped,
supernatural kind of Stockholm Syndrome in which she’s allowing herself to
become a victim yet again.

EXCERPT:

Krystal Harris pulled to the shoulder of the
two-lane road—highway was too grand a word—and
punched the button to turn on the old green Corolla’s dome light. She counted
to five before thwacking it with the heel of her palm, and a dim light blinked
as if considering her demand. It stayed on—this time.

The car was
a dinosaur, but it was a paid-for dinosaur.

She dug a
folded Alabama road map from beneath her briefcase on the passenger seat,
smoothing the creases to make sure she hadn’t driven past Penton, which she
suspected was no more than a wide spot on a narrow road. She didn’t want to get
lost out here in the boonies.

Yep, County
Road 70. The highway to Penton just looked like the
express lane to nowhere.

A gust of
wind rocked the car, sending icy air around the loose door seals. Maybe the
chill of this night was an omen that she should take
this job if they offered it, just so she could buy a more respectable form of
transportation. Still, doubts nagged at her. What kind of clinic conducted a
job interview at nine p.m.? She should never have agreed to it, but the
PentonClinic administrator had waved big
bucks in front of her hugecollege
and med school debts, and she’d trotted after them likea
donkey after a carrot.

“You had the
goody-two-shoes idea of practicing rural medicine, plus you’re already here,”
she chided herself, clicking off the overhead and pulling back onto the road. “And
you’ve gotta admit, this is rural.”

Another omen, and not
a good one: she was talking to herself. Out loud.

A couple of miles
later, her headlights illuminated a battered wooden sign covered in peeling
paint: Welcome to Penton, Alabama. Founded 1890. Population 3,275.

Twenty years ago,
maybe. Krys had done her Penton homework, and that was the boomtown population,
when the mammoth East Alabama Mill still churned out threads and batting. It
had wheezed its final belch a decade ago, and the town had suffered a slow
death by attrition even before the pandemic. The most recent listing Krys found
online estimated a population of three hundred. She was surprised they could
afford to hire a doctor, much less pay a more-than-competitive wage.

But this was what she
wanted, right? A place to practice medicine and be her own boss, to find a
community where she could belong? After growing up in Birmingham—the wrong side
of Birmingham—she hated the grime and crowds and noise of the city.

Lost in thought as she
approached the outskirts of town, she thought she saw an animal in the road—a
deer or a bear, maybe—God only knew what wildlife lived out here. But it was a
man. He wore a long coat that flapped in the wind and was backlit by a lone streetlight
in front of an abandoned convenience store. She’d
have blown past him if he hadn’t movedinto the middle of the
road when the glare of her headlights hit him like a spotlight.

He
stood with his hands in his pockets, feet planted apart, watching calmly as she
floored the brakes. The Corolla’s old tires squealed, stinking up the air with
the smell of hot rubber and stressed brakes.

Good
Lord. Was he nuts?

She
got the car stopped and took a deep breath, hands frozen to the wheel, her
muscles jittery from the aftershock. The man walked around and tapped on her
driver’s side window, motioning for her to lower it.

Krys’s
foot hovered over the accelerator, indecisive. Should she drive on and get the
hell out of here?

No,
by God, she should not. She’d at least lower the window enough to tell the jerk
how close he’d come to ending his life as a hood ornament on a green Toyota
Dinosaur.

He
held up his empty hands in a gesture of peace. Right. Like he was going to hold
up a sign that said Beware of Murderous Backwoods Whack Job.

She
snaked her right hand to her purse in the passenger seat, wrapped cold fingers
around the handle of a small pistol, and slipped it into the pocket of her
suede jacket—after she was sure the man had seen it. The .38 Smith & Wesson
snub-nose was her security blanket, and she knew how to use it.

His
only reaction to the gun was a raised eyebrow. “I have a man injured here.” His
voice was deep and melodic, and he had a trace of an accent, as if he’d grown
up not speaking English but had been around a few too many Southerners. “You
the doctor coming to Penton for the interview?”

She lowered her
window an inch and stared as he knelt next to the driver’s side door, putting
his face at eye level. And damned if it wasn’t one of the most beautiful faces
she’d seen since…maybe ever.

He’d pulled his
dark hair into a short ponytail except for one wavy strand that had pulled
loose and blew against his cheek. The streetlight cast enough illumination for
her to see the dark lashes fringing blue eyes that reminded her not so much of
summer skies or robin’s eggs but of the richness of an arctic sea flowing over darker depths. They appeared to lighten as he
studied her with an intensity that almost robbed her lungs of air. He had a
strong jaw, full lips, and a slight cleft in his chin.

If he was a
serial killer, he was at least a pretty one.

He cleared his
throat. “Are you Dr. Harris?”

Krys caught her
breath. Good Lord, what was wrong with her? She’d been practically drooling
through a half-open window as though he were Adonis personified. He could be
Charles Manson’s separated-at-birth, unidentical twin.

Except he knew
her name.

AUTHOR BIO:

Susannah
Sandlin (www.susannahsandlin.com) is the author of paranormal romance set in the Deep South,
where there are always things that go bump in the night! A journalist by day,
Susannah grew up in Alabama reading the gothic novels of Susan Howatch, and
always fancied herself living in Cornwall (although she’s never actually been
there). Details, details. She also is a fan of Stephen King. The combination of
Howatch and King probably explains a lot. Currently a resident of Auburn,
Alabama, Susannah has also lived in Illinois, Texas, California, and Louisiana.
Her novel Redemption won the
paranormal romance category in the 2011 Chicago North RWA Fire and Ice contest,
and is the first of three in a series that debuts this year.

Throw the rice! It's finally here! Just like any wedding, a lot of creative energy (and love) went into writing A Threesome Wedding Adventure, book 3 of The Vampire, The Witch & The Werewolf series.

Available exclusively via Ravenous Romance now! and other eRetailers later this week.

The Vampire, The Witch & The
Werewolf: A Threesome Wedding Adventure

Planning a wedding can be stressful and
crazy-making. Planning three weddings at the same
time? That’s insanity. While The Vampire,
The Witch & The Werewolf embark on a nuptial excursion, Silver & Nick
hold down the home fortress in New Orleans.

And as if everyone doesn’t have enough to deal
with, the Voodoo King comes calling with a magic elixir that diminishes sexual
inhibitions and an eerie quiet spreads across the French Quarter.Life as they know it
may never be the same.

The threesome is forced to put off honeymoon bliss in order to banish the demons of their past, and embrace the
uncertainty of the future.

____

For release day, leave a comment today, with an email address, and I'll enter you into a contest to win the first electronic .pdf copy of the new release! Winner will be chosen at midnight, PST.

I'll also be doing various guest blogs over the next month, with a few grand prizes. The first is this gorgeous pewter necklace with a Rune symbol that means "self-confidence," (among other interpretations). When you read A Threesome Wedding Adventure, you'll see the tie-in, and why I'll be Reading Runes at Authors After Dark in New Orleans.

Oh, and did I mention I'm going to Disneyland today?! Oh, yes, a family mini-vacation was planned -- so what a celebration.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

To help celebrate Pride Month, Monday
June 18 is B Day at Beth Wylde’s Loop – a special day for putting the B back in GLBT and chatting with
readers about bisexual stories. All the exciting authors listed below will be
there for conversation, excerpts and even the occasional giveaway:

Louisa Bacio
Louisa Bacio published her first erotic thriller SEX UNIVERSITY: Physical
Education in June 2010, and since then has published four more, including The
Vampire, The Witch & The Werewolf: A New Orleans Threesome and its sequel
Chains of Silver. Her story “Two’s Company” can be found in I Kissed a Girl: A
Virgin Lesbian Anthology. Bacio takes on the tale of Lilith in “Lilith: In Her
Garden” in the Seducing the Myth anthology.

Elizabeth Black
Elizabeth Black lives in Massachusetts next to the ocean with her husband, son,
and four cats. Her articles and erotic books and short stories have been
published by Romance Divine, Circlet Press, Whiskey Creek Press Torrid, Xcite
Books, Ravenous Romance, eXcessica Publishers, Scarlet Magazine, Sexis
Magazine, Alternet, the Ms. Magazine Blog, Good Vibrations Magazine, and
nuts4chic.

Delilah Devlin
Delilah Devlin is a prolific and award-winning author of erotica and erotic
romance with a rapidly expanding reputation for writing deliciously edgy
stories with complex characters. Whether creating dark, erotically-charged
paranormal worlds or richly descriptive historical stories that ring with
authenticity, Delilah Devlin “pens in uncharted territory that will
leave the readers breathless and hungering for more…” (Paranormal Reviews) Ms.
Devlin has published over 100 erotic stories in multiple genres and
lengths.

Ann HerendeenAnn writes from the "third
perspective," the woman who prefers a bisexual husband and an m/ m/ f
menage. With Phyllida and the Brotherhood of Philander, Ann put a new twist on
a traditional form, creating the ultimate love story she always wanted to read:
a Regency romance with a bisexual hero. In Pride/ Prejudice, she tells the
hidden bisexual story within Jane Austen's classic novel.

Adriana Kraft
is the pen name for a married couple writing erotic romance together. Published
at Extasy Books, Whiskey Creek Press Torrid, Love You Divine, Logical Lust and
Torquere, their novels and short stories garner top reviews and are available
in e-book and print. Genres include straight m/f, lesbian, bisexual, ménage and
polyamory, with both contemporary and paranormal settings.

Giselle RenardeEroticist Giselle Renarde is a queer Canadian,
avid volunteer, contributor to more than 50 short story anthologies, and author
of dozens of electronic and print books, including Anonymous, Ondine, and My
Mistress' Thighs. Ms Renarde lives across from a park with two bilingual cats
who sleep on her head.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Planning a wedding can be stressful and
crazy-making. Planning three weddings at the same
time? That’s insanity. While The Vampire,
The Witch & The Werewolf embark on a nuptial excursion, Silver & Nick
hold down the home fortress in New Orleans.

And as if everyone doesn’t have enough to deal
with, the Voodoo King comes calling with a magic elixir that diminishes sexual
inhibitions and an eerie quiet spreads across the French Quarter.Life as they know it
may never be the same.

The threesome is forced to put off honeymoon bliss in order to banish the demons of their past, and embrace the
uncertainty of the future.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Have you heard the term ‘method’
actor? These are the actors that don’t break character, even between takes.
Daniel Day Lewis and Dustin Hoffman are two such actors. Dustin Hoffman didn’t
sleep for days to prep for a scene in Marathon Man. Daniel Day Lewis maintained
his John Proctor façade the entire time he was shooting The Crucible.

I think I’m a method writer.
That’s not to say I sit around wrapped in linen robes, using oil lamps for
light, and speak with a more formal vocabulary. I couldn’t get away with it –
my husband and kids are supportive, but… I admit, it does sound divine.

BUT when I’m working on my
Loves of Olympus series, the feel (the way I imagine that time/place to be)
takes over. Food, scents, textures, sounds, and the rhythm of life changes a
little. Research helps, I’ll admit. From historical costuming books, map books,
various ‘Life in the…’ books, and numerous mythology tombs – I am easily (and
eagerly) transported.

Another essential tool that
helps me get lost in my pages: music. I am always on the lookout for new songs
to add to my YouTube playlists. I have specific lists for each book, but there
are a few songs that I’ve listed on each list. Some sound very authentic to me,
while others impart the mood I’m hoping to write. One song that’s made it onto
all my playlists is listed below.

I hope you enjoy the song. And
that you’ll enjoy Medusa, A Love Story too!

Medusa, A Love Story

By Sasha Summers

Blurb:

It's said love
can change a person. Medusa wasn't always a monster...

Medusa is ruled
by duty, to her Titan father and the Goddess Athena. She's no room for the
tenderness her warrior guard, Ariston, stirs. When Olympus frees her from
service, her heart leads her into the arms of the guard she loves... and curses
her as the creature with serpent locks.

Ariston goes to
war with a full heart... and dreadful foreboding. He learns too late of the
danger Medusa faces, alone, and a Persian blade sends him into the Underworld.
But death, curses, nor the wrath of the Gods will keep him from returning to
her.

Poseidon will
use Greece's war to get what he wants: Medusa. He does not care that she
belongs to another. He does not care that she will be damned. He is a God, an
Olympian, and she will be his.

"This tragic and beautiful retelling of one of the
world's oldest stories tackles the eternal battle between duty and happiness.
Medusa, A Love Story broke my heart then filled in the cracks with joy. Sasha
Summers is simply a mesmerizing new talent." ~Stephanie Dray, Author of the critically
acclaimed Song of the Nile

Excerpt:

“You asked for an
audience, you have it. Now tell me, where do you belong?” Hades’ voice was
deep, emotionless.

“Why? You died with
honor and glory. Is that not what every soldier wants?”

“My
wife…” His voice wavered.

Hades brow lifted
slightly. “Lives. You do not.”

“She
is in danger.”

“Earthly
danger. She is no longer your concern, Ariston.”

“The
danger she faces is not earthly, but far from it…” Ariston’s voice was hoarse,
his desperation mounting. He took a wavering breath before he began again. “She
is everything to me. I am proud of my death, but it means nothing if she is in
peril. I must know.” Ariston kneeled. “I beg you. I beg you to return me to
Athens.”

Ariston
waited, willing himself to be strong.

“Who
is this wife?” Hades asked.

“Medusa
of Athens.” He paused. “Now of Rhodes.”

Hades
was silent, his dark blue eyes regarding him steadily.

“When
I die—” Ariston began.

“You
are dead,” Hades assured him.

“When I return…die
again, I would serve as guardian to Tartarus. I am a skilled warrior, a skill I
might offer you.” He spoke with confidence.

“You
vex me,” Hades muttered, the slightest crease appearing between his eyes. “You
offer this to me for a woman?”

Ariston
nodded. “She is worthy.”

Hades
was silent again, his eyes shifting to the blue-white flames in the massive

fireplace.

“My words do
not…adequately express the love I have for this woman. But I cannot leave her.
She is at risk. I must return.” The words came without thought. How could he
justify such emotion to a God who reviled affection or companionship? “As
Olympus has my arm and sword, she has my heart – a mortal, and perhaps weak,
heart.”

The room was silent for
too long. He would have to fight his way out…

“It
is a weakness not reserved for mortals alone, Ariston of Rhodes.” Hades’ words
were so soft Ariston feared they’d not been spoken. But Hades continued, strong
and clear. “I will return you to your ship so that you may lead your men to
victory. Too many have fallen from this war and I would see it end. When that
is done, you may go to your wife.” He paused then added, “When you return to my
realm, I will have your fealty.”

The
God of the Underworld, Lord of Death, gave him mercy? Mayhap there was one God
he might serve with honor.

Ariston vowed, “You have
it.”

Review:

Some
books speak to a reader before the first page is turned. That’s exactly how I
felt about Medusa, A Love Story when
I saw its cover and read the background information. And, fortunately, it lived
up to the expectations.

Author
Sasha Summers takes one of the most feared mythological creatures – Medusa, a
vile woman with serpents swarming in place of hair, who turns any man who looks
upon her into stone – and instead creates a complex, loving woman who dotes on
her family, and gives up her happiness for that of others.

Not
all born into families look like their siblings and parents. Before Medusa took
on the characteristics a dreaded Gorgon, she was but a lady, a priestess in
Athena’s temple. She took the position as payment for her parents’ misdeeds.

“Love
had never been peaceful, not for Medusa. In truth, she’d seen very little to
indicate love existed. Duty was her fate. Duty did not waver. It was constant.
And she was content with her station – most of the time.” (p. 19)

Medusa’s
view of love shifts with her new guard duty, Ariston. As a leader of soldiers,
Ariston is supposed to escort Medusa to and from the temple, but something
about her calls to him.

“She
was indeed well, easing his worry while tempting his soul. Her veils offered no
buffer to his heart, the whisper of her smile was a shadow through its gossamer
fall – enticing him all the more.” (28)

For
those knowledgeable of Greek mythology, or even viewers of Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Medusa’s
life doesn’t end happily-ever-after. While Summers stays pretty true to the
classic tales, she offers an ending that should leave readers satisfied.

In Medusa, A
Love Story, Summers doesn’t weave a simple tale of romance, but an epic
adventure of the heart.

Author Bio:

Sasha Summers is part gypsy. Her passions have always
been storytelling, history, and travel. It's no surprise that her books visit
times past, set in places rich with legends and myth. Her first play, 'Greek
Gods and Goddesses' (original title, right?), was written for her Girl Scout
troupe.

She's been writing ever since. She loves getting lost in
the worlds and characters she creates; even if she frequently forgets to run
the dishwasher or wash socks when she's doing so.

Luckily, her four brilliant children and hero-inspiring
hubby are super understanding and supportive.

Sasha is an active member of RWA and several Texas
Chapters. A self-proclaimed movie-addict, she is full of all sorts of useless
movie tidbits and trivia.